Inner Harbor Channel (Industrial Canal) and Lower Ninth District

Now known as the historic Lower Ninth Ward, the area originated as a cypress swamp and featured many bays. In this rural setting, residents have ready access to fishing grounds and can grow okra and other vegetables. In the mid-19th century, working-class African Americans and immigrant laborers seeking affordable housing from Ireland, Germany, and Italy migrated to the area. The 9th arrondissement has developed into a unique community with intergenerational and family ties that span decades.

In 1923, the 5.5-mile Industrial Canal (Inner Harbor Channel) opened, connecting Lake Pontchartrain to the Mississippi River. The canal is equipped with a huge lock, allowing large cargo ships and barges to enter the river docks. The canal is 30 feet deep, 300 feet wide at the bottom, and about 150 feet wide at the lock end.

This industrial canal separates New Orleans East from the rest of the city and separates the Lower 9th Ward from the Upper 9th Ward. It is approximately half the length of the waterway from the industrial locks on the Mississippi River to a point north of the Florida Avenue Bridge where it joins the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW).

The booming industrial development along the canal in the 1930s created a large number of employment opportunities due to the docks and dry docks on both sides of the GIWW north of the GIWW. These employment opportunities are in addition to employment at the docks along the Mississippi River. During the same decade, the city installed many components to improve drainage systems. Better drainage and good employment led many people to settle in the Lower Ninth Ward.

In the late 1950s, a bridge connecting the city to the Lower Ninth Ward, the Judge William Seber Bridge (also known as the Claiborne Avenue Bridge), spanned the canal at Claiborne Avenue. This promotes retail and commercial development throughout the community.

In September 1965, Hurricane Betsy pushed storm surge into the Industrial Canal, and the east side canal wall collapsed during Hurricane Katrina 40 years later. A common area was breached. 80% of the Lower Ninth District was flooded and hundreds of people lost their lives; the city's official count was 81 deaths.

The following year, Congress passed the Model Cities and Urban Development Act. Through this act, employment in the Lower Ninth Ward increased and neighborhoods were restored as new institutions were established.

Prior to its destruction in 2005, the residents of the Ninth Ward remained African-American, including socioeconomically disadvantaged, middle-class residents